For the last century I did, the NYC Century, I found myself at the front of most of the riders, with maybe a few ahead of me. We weren't the "elite" riders, we all had started at the second starting point in Brooklyn, ahead of the much more crowded one in Manhattan. If I wanted to do a ride alone, I'd have just done one on my own. The whole point of doing this century though is to ride with others. I stopped at the first rest area and let everyone catch up. And lest you think I'm some hard core roadie, I'm 58 years old, somewhat overweight, but can crank it out, especially when there is a tailwind. I couldn't quite figure out how I outraced everyone.

After that first stop I found groups and individuals to ride with the rest of the way. I rode with one woman that had separated from her own group for a good 25 miles, when we stopped she thanked my for motivating her to ride a lot faster than she would. The guys she was with were just poking along. It took about 10 hours because this is NYC after all. Way too many places you have to stop. At the end of the ride, not far from my house in Brooklyn, I was still cranking at 20+mph through Prospect Park.

The fastest century I've done though was Seattle to Portland, the first half. 100 miles in 4.25 hours. That's over 23mph and I didn't stop along the way. I could barely get back on the bike for the second half, but I did finish in 10 hours.